Track when you are away from the house or office and are away regularly for a period of 4 hours or more. Keep track of your schedule for 7 days, 24 hours each day.

Read the manufacturer's recommendations

Review the instruction manual and get acquainted with the temperature settings. The manual should include what actions need to taken to change your settings, whether it be changes made by you or programming updates.

Set your thermostat

A programmable thermostat can adjust your schedules for the air-conditioning or heating to turn on automatically. Program separate temperatures for when you're asleep, when you're awake at home or when you're away from home.
A manual thermostat requires that you change your own temperatures. Be sure to adjust the temperature (whether higher or lower) for when you're asleep or when you're away from home.